Adhered to by 38 countries (as of end-2023), including twelve G20 countries, the Capital Movements Code is the sole binding multilateral agreement among State parties dedicated to openness, transparency and international cooperation on the full range of cross-border capital flows. The Current Invisibles Code covers current account transactions including cross-border trade in services. Adopted in 1961, the OECD Codes are key elements of the international framework for economic co-operation and founding legal instruments of the OECD. They have guided countries in the gradual liberalisation of their capital accounts in order to reap the benefits of capital flows. Since 2012, the Codes are open to adherence by non-OECD members and in 2019, a major review of the instruments was endorsed by OECD Ministers.
Capital flows and investment standards
The OECD helps countries reap the benefits of international capital flows – the movement of money and investments across borders - while ensuring resilience to volatility. The OECD Codes of Liberalisation are the sole binding multilateral agreement among countries dedicated to openness, transparency and cooperation of capital flow policies. In addition to overseeing the Codes, the OECD seeks to contribute to a better understanding of evolving trends and policy design issues in an increasingly complex global financial system.
Key messages
The OECD is an important contributor to global debates on international capital flows. How best to reap the benefits of capital flows for the local economies, while mitigating the financial stability risks associated with their volatility has been the focus of the Advisory Task Force (ATFC) since its creation in 2012.
The ATFC is composed of governmental experts from OECD and non-OECD countries as well as experts from relevant international organisations such as the IMF and the WTO. The analytical work produced by the OECD Secretariat aims at enhancing understanding of capital flow dynamics and policy effectiveness, in order to help policymakers navigate increasingly complex global financial systems and design better policies. Such work supports the ATFC agenda and the OECD’s contributions to the G20 Finance Track.
Context
OECD monthly capital flows dataset
The OECD monthly capital flows dataset compiles monthly capital flow data from public sources in 47 countries starting from January 1995. It covers all main capital flow categories of the financial account – FDI, portfolio equity, debt and other investment and covering both inflows and outflows. It is updated on a quarterly basis.
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